dinahvixen
10-01-2008, 08:26 PM
So I found this old book we must have had for years; Walt Disney's EPCOT Center Creating the New World of Tomorrow. It's dated 1982 and it's 239 pages of discussion of each attraction. It's a nice nastalgic trip and kind of funny b/c of the time period and I thought a lot of you might enjoy little excerpts now and then. I thought I'd start with the one on Spaceship Earth:
"What about those computer terminals and screens at Earth Station?...Your forefinger will turn on the touch-sensitive terminals whose screens operate by means of an invisible grid of phot diodes and photo detectors. This WorldKey Information Service, developed especially for Epcot Center by the Bell System, will smooth your path through the park - once you can tear yourself away from the remarkable new plaything...
...you've decided to treat yourself to haute cuisine, you touch the "Reservations" line of the French restaurant display. The terminal asks if you'd like to make a reservation. Yes? The terminal, equipped with an acoustic coupler, dials the central reservations office, from which a host or hostess, live on screen, welcomes you and takes your reservation: "Thank you, Mrs. Smith. You're confirmed for this evening at 7:30". Enjoy your meal."...
...At Epcot Center, it is no coincidence that most of the terminals are located where guest disembark from Spaceship Earth, a pavilion devoted to communications past, present, and future...
...They are so attractive and easy to operate that you realize right away that you don't have to take a course in computer programing to make computers work for you. In fact, once you become comfortable with the touch-sensitive screns and the other hands-on rechnology that is part of the Epcot Center experience, you won't be thinking "computer" at all. That's the real magic of it."
This cracked me up! I remember those screens and I remember there was a host on a second level balcony of the communicore and you could see him on the computer screen on the first floor and he would interact with you and you could see him at the same time and it was SO high tech.
"What about those computer terminals and screens at Earth Station?...Your forefinger will turn on the touch-sensitive terminals whose screens operate by means of an invisible grid of phot diodes and photo detectors. This WorldKey Information Service, developed especially for Epcot Center by the Bell System, will smooth your path through the park - once you can tear yourself away from the remarkable new plaything...
...you've decided to treat yourself to haute cuisine, you touch the "Reservations" line of the French restaurant display. The terminal asks if you'd like to make a reservation. Yes? The terminal, equipped with an acoustic coupler, dials the central reservations office, from which a host or hostess, live on screen, welcomes you and takes your reservation: "Thank you, Mrs. Smith. You're confirmed for this evening at 7:30". Enjoy your meal."...
...At Epcot Center, it is no coincidence that most of the terminals are located where guest disembark from Spaceship Earth, a pavilion devoted to communications past, present, and future...
...They are so attractive and easy to operate that you realize right away that you don't have to take a course in computer programing to make computers work for you. In fact, once you become comfortable with the touch-sensitive screns and the other hands-on rechnology that is part of the Epcot Center experience, you won't be thinking "computer" at all. That's the real magic of it."
This cracked me up! I remember those screens and I remember there was a host on a second level balcony of the communicore and you could see him on the computer screen on the first floor and he would interact with you and you could see him at the same time and it was SO high tech.